History UsefulNotes / JapanesePoliticalSystem

** Social Democratic Party: Formerly known as The Socialist Party, they were The LDP's chief rivals up until the the mid-'90s, though they've dwindled since then. Although they saw government early, they spent most of their existence in opposition thanks to serious divisions between the Left Socialists (old style revolutionary Marxists) and Right Socialists (traditional social democrats and democratic socialists). They also suffered some tremendously bad luck and timing. After they'd eventually gotten back into government again, the Party Leader, Tomiichi Murayama, changed the name to reflect the party's moderation. Unfortunately for them, it did not bring increased luck and they've been pretty much reduced to being TheRemnent. Advocates for social democratic policies, similar to Britain's pre-Blair Labour Party. As of this writing, they've agreed to merge with the CDP.

** Social Democratic Party: The LDP's chief rivals up until the the mid-'90s, though they've dwindled since then. Advocates for social democratic policies, similar to Britain's pre-Blair Labour Party. As of this writing, they've agreed to merge with the CDP.

* '''Shōwa''' (1926-1989), meaning "enlightened peace", although given that it covered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII it might be a NonIndicativeName. Better known as Hirohito, he's Japan's longest-reigning monarch and the grandfather of current Emperor Naruhito. Beginning his reign after his father's untimely death at the age of 47, Hirohito came to the throne at the height of the "Taishō Democracy." However, this system was unstable, threatened most particularly by right-wing ultranationalists in the officer corps. By the 1930s, civilian politicians lived in constant fear of assassination (usually by said ultranationalists), and eventually his reign oversaw Japan's [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun descent to militarism]] and [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the devastating war that followed]]. Much like his grandfather Meiji, it's not clear how much influence he had over government policy, as he seems to have deliberately veiled himself in mystery for most of his early reign; what is clear is that he had a decisive influence in Japan's decision to accept the Allies' demand for unconditional surrender after the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. It's also clear he ceased to have any political influence after the war. However, he did manage to remain emperor, and reigned over the post-war recovery that gave the trope JapanTakesOverTheWorld (and died shortly before the economic crash that killed that trope off).

There are two big-name political parties in Japan, though only one has a great deal of clout. Japan has often been called a "one-and-a-half-party state"[[note]]or, as Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls it, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant-party_system "a dominant-party state"]][[/note]], as there technically is an opposition, but if they ever get elected, they never stay in power very long.

And finally, we have a topic relevant to Wiki/TVTropes, because it answers a question readers might have had: why do so many entertainment companies in Japan these days focus so much on making "kiddie" entertainment for adults, when in the the past they targeted actual children? Because there just aren't that many kids anymore. There are a lot more {{otaku}}, though, who grew up with the "kiddie" stuff and have a lot of purchasing power. Things that are explicitly marketed to children have seen sales decline (for instance, ''Magazine/ShonenJump'') or pivoted to being "for everyone" (''e.g.'' Creator/{{Nintendo}} systems). But it goes beyond entertainment -- Japan is littered with shuttered elementary schools who couldn't find enough students to stay open, dedicated baby supply stores are basically dying, and it's seriously getting to the point where the country is selling more adult diapers than baby diapers (even before you take into account the [[{{Fetish}} weirdos]] whom the women don't want impregnating them). This might also be why there's been a trend of robot caregivers being developed in Japan (but they tend to slam right into the UnintentionalUncannyValley).

And finally, we have a topic relevant to Wiki/TVTropes, because it answers a question readers might have had: why do so many entertainment companies in Japan these days focus so much on making "kiddie" entertainment for adults, when in the the past they targeted actual children? Because there just aren't that many kids anymore. There are a lot more {{otaku}}, though, who grew up with the "kiddie" stuff and have a lot of purchasing power. Things that are explicitly marketed to children have seen sales decline (for instance, ''Magazine/ShonenJump'') or pivoted to being "for everyone" (''e.g.'' Creator/{{Nintendo}} systems). But it goes beyond entertainment -- Japan is littered with shuttered elementary schools who couldn't find enough students to stay open, dedicated baby supply stores are basically dying, and it's seriously getting to the point where the country is selling more adult diapers than baby diapers (even before you take into account the [[{{Fetish}} weirdos]] whom the women don't want impregnating them). This might also be why there's been a trend of robot caregivers being developed in Japan (but they tend to slam right into the UncannyValley).

The name "Diet" comes from the fact that it was established by the Meiji Constitution, which was based on the constitution of UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany, whose legislature (the ''Reichstag'') was known in English as the "Imperial Diet". The term could just as easily be translated as "National Assembly", but for the most part, it's the most important legislative body in the world to be called a "diet", so that's something going for it.[[note]]Germany's ''Bundestag'' could still technically be called a "diet", but in English-language media it's just as often called the "Bundestag".[[/note]]

The current prime minister is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihide_Suga Yoshihide Suga]]. He's the guy who [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yoshihide_Suga_announcing_new_imperial_era_Reiwa_2_(cropped).jpg presented the Imperial name of Reiwa]].

* '''Jimmu''' (711?-585? BCE): the legendary first Emperor of Japan as recounted in the ''Kojiki'', one of the oldest surviving works of literature (dating back to 712 AD). It's debatable whether Jimmu existed, especially considering the document's ulterior motive of legitimizing the Emperor's rule; in some sense, he's like a Japanese KingArthur. If he did exist, he most likely existed much later than the ''Kojiki'' says, and was the leader of his local clan (the Yamato) rather than all of Japan.

There are two big-name political parties in Japan, though only one has a great deal of clout. Japan has often been called a "one-and-a-half-party state", as there technically is an opposition, but if they ever get elected, they never stay in power very long.

Junichiro Koizumi visited five times during his premiership, and Abe once, during his present premiership.

This highly annoys the two Koreas, China, some pan-Blue supporters in Taiwan, and the Japanese left. The official website is under a constant denial of service attack from China.[[note]]An approximate, if understated, analogy for Brits: imagine (1) there being a monument to General Reginald Dyer, the orchestrator of the 1919 Amritsar massacre, in London, ''and'' (2) Boris Johnson paying frequent visits to said monument with wreaths laid and speeches about 'the heroes who defended [[UsefulNotes/BritishRaj the Raj]]' given, ''and'' (3) [[DudeNotFunny the reaction]] from the ministries of foreign affairs of India, Pakistan and likely Bangladesh as well.[[/note]]

This highly annoys the two Koreas, China, some pan-Blue supporters in Taiwan, and the Japanese left. The official website is under a constant denial of service attack from China.

"Comfort Women" is the euphemism for the practice during the years before and during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII of the Japanese military kidnapping and enslaving thousands of women, forcing them to be sexual slaves to Japanese soldiers. [[BlatantLies Japan insists that it didn't happen]], or [[ImplausibleDeniability just a very few bad people did this to a very few women]]. Many, many Japanese politicians say this, including Prime Minister Abe -- several times. It's actually backtracking in his case, as previous Prime Ministers have acknowledged that it happened and apologized, but Abe isn't budging. Naturally, other nations, especially North Korea, South Korea, and China, the three nations most of these women came from, aren't very pleased with this.

Ever since the post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo baby boom, the birthrate in Japan has fallen like a stone. It now hovers at around 7 per 1000 - the lowest birthrate of a full nation in the entire world. Meanwhile, the death rate has steadily crept ''up'' as those baby boomers age and die. And several years ago, the death rate officially outnumbered the birth rate, and Japan's population began to ''contract''. As the Japanese allow very, very few people to immigrate permanently, this essentially means that birth is the only way they have of growing or even sustaining their population - and that isn't happening.

* The main opposition to the LDP has gone through [[IHaveManyNames many names]] over the past years, but is currently the '''Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan'''. They're the result of a complicated and [[WeAreStrugglingTogether chaotic]] merger of several parties, all of which descended from TheRemnant of the Democratic Party after their collapse in 2012, and have ended up [[FullCircleRevolution back in largely the same place as the DPJ]]. They are socially progressive and economically moderate, comparable to the American Democrats or British New Labour, though their party's TangledFamilyTree also includes conservative and even far-right elements who have mostly split off.

* The '''Democratic Party of Japan''' ('''DPJ''') used to be the "one-half" party that is the main opposition to the LDP. It was socially progressive and economically moderate, just like its successor party. It dates to 1998, when it was created from the union of four independent parties and a bunch of LDP defectors, all of whom had beefs with the LDP. It won a majority of seats in the House of Councillors in 2007 (ousting the LDP from there for the first time in pretty much ever) and won the House of Representatives in a big landslide in 2009. Only problem was that they didn't exactly know what to do once they got into power, and they also happened to be in charge when the Tohoku earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit in 2011. Their handling of that basically led to the party's landslide defeat in 2012. In 2016, it broke apart and the core merged with a couple other parties to form a new party...[[NamesTheSame the Democratic Party]], which set off a chain reaction of mergers.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-democratic_party_of_japan_svg_2734.png]]
* The '''Democratic Party of Japan''' ('''DPJ''') is the "one-half" party that is the main opposition to the LDP. It's socially progressive and economically moderate, much like the American Democrats or British New Labour. It dates to 1998, when it was created from the union of four independent parties and a bunch of LDP defectors, all of whom had beefs with the LDP. It won a majority of seats in the House of Councillors in 2007 (ousting the LDP from there for the first time in pretty much ever) and won the House of Representatives in a big landslide in 2009. Only problem was that they didn't exactly know what to do once they got into power, and they also happened to be in charge when the Tohoku earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit in 2011. Their handling of that basically led to the party's landslide defeat in 2012.

** Social Democratic Party: The LDP's chief rivals up until the the mid-'90s, though they've dwindled since then. Advocates for social democratic policies, similar to Britain's pre-Blair Labour Party.

The current Emperor is Naruhito, who has been reigning since 2019. The Emperor has two names; one is his given name, which is used when he is in power, and another is used afterwards to refer both to the Emperor and his reign. For instance, the current Emperor's name is Naruhito (well, you're not supposed to use his name, but that is his name), and his "era" is the ''Reiwa'' (令和) era (roughly meaning "beautiful harmony"). The era name itself was selected from a passage of Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), an assortment of Japanese poetry compiled sometime during the Nara period, with most of its text written in Classical Chinese.[[note]]

The original text is as follows:

梅花歌卅二首

天平二年正月十三日，萃于帥老大伴旅人之宅，申宴會也。于時，初春 -令- 月，氣淑風 -和- 。梅披鏡前之粉，蘭薰珮後之香。加以，曙嶺移雲，松掛羅而傾蓋，夕岫結霧，鳥封穀而迷林。庭舞新蝶，空歸故鴈。於是，蓋天坐地，促膝飛觴。忘言一室之裏，開衿煙霞之外。淡然自放，快然自足。若非翰苑，何以攄情。請紀落梅之篇，古今夫何異矣。宜賦園梅，聊成短詠。[[/note]]

The current Emperor is Naruhito, who has been reigning since 2019. The Emperor has two names; one is his given name, which is used when he is in power, and another is used afterwards to refer both to the Emperor and his reign. For instance, the current Emperor's name is Naruhito (well, you're not supposed to use his name, but that is his name), and his "era" is the ''Reiwa'' (令和) era (roughly meaning "beautiful harmony"). The era name itself was selected from a passage of Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), an assortment of Japanese poetry compiled sometime during the Nara period, with most of its text written in Classical Chinese.

天平二年正月十三日，萃于帥老大伴旅人之宅，申宴會也。于時，初春 -令- 月，氣淑風 -和- 。梅披鏡前之粉，蘭薰珮後之香。加以，曙嶺移雲，松掛羅而傾蓋，夕岫結霧，鳥封穀而迷林。庭舞新蝶，空歸故鴈。於是，蓋天坐地，促膝飛觴。忘言一室之裏，開衿煙霞之外。淡然自放，快然自足。若非翰苑，何以攄情。請紀落梅之篇，古今夫何異矣。宜賦園梅，聊成短詠。

* '''Meiji''' (1868-1912), meaning "enlightened rule"[[note]]from this point the Emperor would only use one era name which would also be his posthumous name[[/note]]. His rule was famous for the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration, which saw the modernization of Japan, the consolidation of the Emperor's power away from the Shogun, and the start of Japan's rise to world power status. The degree to which he actually wielded power is unclear and a subject of debate; on one hand, politics in his era was clearly dominated by a clique of nobles called the ''genrō'', and he publicly deferred to them on questions of policy, but it's possible he had ways of influencing his ministers in private.
* '''Taishō''' (1912-1926), meaning "great righteousness", whose rule was an important bridge between the Meiji and Showa eras and oversaw Japan's first real experiments with democracy, including the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1926. Taishō is generally agreed not to have had much influence on policy or on anything else, as he was sickly and had neurological problems (and possibly mental health issues) stemming from a bout with cerebral meningitis as an infant.

* '''Shōwa''' (1926-1989), meaning "enlightened peace", although given that it covered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII it might be a NonIndicativeName. Better known as Hirohito, he's Japan's longest-reigning monarch and the grandfather of current Emperor Naruhito. Beginning his reign after his father's untimely death at the age of 47, Hirohito came to the throne at the height of the "Taishō Democracy." However, this system was unstable, threatened most particularly by right-wing ultranationalists in the officer corps. By the 1930s, civilian politicians lived in constant fear of assassination (usually by said ultranationalists), and eventually his reign oversaw Japan's [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun descent to militarism]] and [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the devastating war that followed]]. Much like his grandfather Meiji, it's not clear how much influence he had over government policy, as he seems to have deliberately veiled himself in mystery for most of his early reign; what is clear is that he had a decisive influence in Japan's decision to accept the Allies' demand for unconditional surrender after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's also clear he ceased to have any political influence after the war. However, he did manage to remain emperor, and reigned over the post-war recovery that gave the trope JapanTakesOverTheWorld (and died shortly before the economic crash that killed that trope off).

* '''Shōwa''' (1926-1989), meaning "enlightened peace", although given that it covered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII it might be a NonIndicativeName. Better known as Hirohito, he's Japan's longest-reigning monarch and the grandfather of current Emperor Naruhito. Beginning his reign after his father's untimely death at the age of 47, Hirohito came to the throne at the height of the "Taishō Democracy." However, this system was unstable, threatened most particularly by right-wing ultranationalists in the officer corps. By the 1930s, civilian politicians lived in constant fear of assassination (usually by said ultranationalists), and eventually his reign oversaw Japan's [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun descent to militarism]] and [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific the devastating war that followed]]. Much like his grandfather Meiji, it's not clear how much influence he had over government policy, as he seems to have deliberately veiled himself in mystery for most of his early reign; what is clear is that he ceased to have any political influence after the war. However, he did manage to remain emperor, and reigned over the post-war recovery that gave the trope JapanTakesOverTheWorld (and died shortly before the economic crash that killed that trope off).

* '''Meiji''' (1868-1912), meaning "enlightened rule"[[note]]from this point the Emperor would only use one era name which would also be his posthumous name[[/note]]. His rule was famous for the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration, which saw the modernization of Japan, the consolidation of the Emperor's power away from the Shogun, and the start of Japan's rise to world power status.
* '''Taishō''' (1912-1926), meaning "great righteousness", whose rule was an important bridge between the Meiji and Showa eras and oversaw Japan's first real experiments with democracy, including the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1926.
* '''Shōwa''' (1926-1989), meaning "enlightened peace", although given that it covered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII it might be a NonIndicativeName. Better known as Hirohito, he's Japan's longest-reigning monarch and the grandfather of current Emperor Naruhito. His reign oversaw Japan's [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun descent to militarism]], [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific a devastating war]] and the post-war recovery that gave the trope JapanTakesOverTheWorld.

Like Italy, the average term of a prime minister is about two years. From 2006 until 2012, Japan changed prime ministers ''every single year''.[[note]]For an added bit of irony, Abe was the prime minister in 2006 when his resignation touched off Prime Ministerial Musical Chairs, lasting up through the end of the DPJ's rein on the government.[[/note]] There are a number of opinions as to what the cause of the instability was. Even though the LDP have nearly always been in power, the government has often struggled to get things done. This is partly due to the two chambers of the Diet often being in conflict with each other, and also and the "keiretsu" culture (see below) which makes it hard for the government to implement economic reforms. The media, electorate, and backbenchers are generally unforgiving towards prime ministers who make mistakes or break campaign promises.

The current prime minister is Shinzo Abe[[note]]pronounced "Ah-Beh," not like the Western name that's short for Abraham[[/note]] of the LDP.

The monarch of Japan is the Emperor, called in Japanese ''tennō'' ("heavenly ruler"). When discussing him in Japanese, you call him ''Tennō Heika'' (His Majesty the Emperor) or "The Reigning Emperor". The Japanese monarchy is the longest continuous hereditary monarchy in history.[[note]]The next-oldest, the British monarchy, is anywhere from 500 to 1700 years younger depending on whether you start counting Japanese emperors with the legendary Jimmu (c. 700 BCE) or the historical Nintoku (313 CE) and if you start the British count from Egbert of Wessex (829), Athelstan of Wessex (927), or William the Conqueror (1066).[[/note]] In fact, the supremacy and sacredness of the Emperor is so ingrained in the Japanese national psyche that a rebellion against the Emperor and seizing the throne was unthinkable; instead, ambitious nobles fought over the right to have their daughters ''marry'' the Emperor and gaining power that way.

The characters for Tenno (天皇) means 'Heavenly Sovereign', a title dictated by Emperor Tenmu, and in use by 689 AD. This title was partially influenced by Confucian Philosophy, and partially influenced by Tenmu's contemporary, the third Emperor of Tang China, who was posthumously known as 'Heavenly Sovereign Great Emperor' (天皇大帝). Nonetheless, power of the Emperor slipped rapidly by the 10th century, and by the 12th century, the position of Emperor became largely ceremonial. Many have argued that "Emperor" is probably not the best translation, and it's easier to think of the ''Tenno'' as more of a spiritual leader than a political or military one. European explorers of the era considered the Shogun equivalent to a European king (as he was a military leader) with the Emperor akin to UsefulNotes/ThePope. Indeed, the Emperor acts as a high priest in UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and was traditionally considered a [[GodEmperor demigod]] descended from the sun goddess [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu]]. Emperor Hirohito had to renounce the bit about being a living divinity after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (although he did sneakily ask the occupation authorities if he could make a sacrifice "to his ancestors", and they let him -- so he sacrificed to Amaterasu).

The current Emperor is Naruhito, who has been reigning since 2019. The Emperor has two names; one is his given name, which is used when he is in power, and another is used afterwards to refer both to the Emperor and his reign. For instance, the current Emperor's name is Naruhito (well, you're not supposed to use his name, but that is his name), and his "era" is the ''Reiwa'' era (roughly meaning "beautiful harmony"). The era name itself was selected from a passage of Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), an assortment of Japanese poetry compiled sometime during the Nara period, with most of its text written in Classical Chinese.

The characters for Tenno means 'Heavenly Sovereign', a title dictated by Emperor Tenmu, and in use by 689 AD. This title was partially influenced by Confucian Philosophy, and partially influenced by Tenmu's contemporary, the third Emperor of Tang China, who was posthumously known as 'Heavenly Sovereign Great Emperor'. Nonetheless, power of the Emperor slipped rapidly by the 10th century, and by the 12th century, the position of Emperor became largely ceremonial. Many have argued that "Emperor" is probably not the best translation, and it's easier to think of the ''Tenno'' as more of a spiritual leader than a political or military one. European explorers of the era considered the Shogun equivalent to a European king (as he was a military leader) with the Emperor akin to UsefulNotes/ThePope. Indeed, the Emperor acts as a high priest in UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and was traditionally considered a [[GodEmperor demigod]] descended from the sun goddess [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu]]. Emperor Hirohito had to renounce the bit about being a living divinity after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (although he did sneakily ask the occupation authorities if he could make a sacrifice "to his ancestors", and they let him -- so he sacrificed to Amaterasu).

Many have argued that "Emperor" is probably not the best translation. The characters for Tenno means 'Heavenly Sovereign', a title dictated by Emperor Tenmu, and in use by 689 AD. This title was partially influenced by Confucian Philosophy, and partially influenced by Tenmu's contemporary, the third Emperor of Tang China, who was posthumously known as 'Heavenly Sovereign Great Emperor'. Nonetheless, power of the Emperor slipped rapidly by the 10th century, and by the 12th century, the position of Emperor became largely ceremonial. It's easier to think of the ''Tenno'' as more of a spiritual leader than a political or military one. European explorers of the era considered the Shogun equivalent to a European king (as he was a military leader) with the Emperor akin to UsefulNotes/ThePope. Indeed, the Emperor acts as a high priest in UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and was traditionally considered a [[GodEmperor demigod]] descended from the sun goddess [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu]]. Emperor Hirohito had to renounce the bit about being a living divinity after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (although he did sneakily ask the occupation authorities if he could make a sacrifice "to his ancestors", and they let him -- so he sacrificed to Amaterasu).

Many have argued that "Emperor" is probably not the best translation. The characters for Tenno means 'Heavenly Sovereign', a term derived from Confucian philosophy. This title was dictated by Emperor Tenmu, and in use by 689 AD. It's easier to think of the ''Tenno'' as more of a spiritual leader than a political or military one. European explorers of the era considered the Shogun equivalent to a European king (as he was a military leader) with the Emperor akin to UsefulNotes/ThePope. Indeed, the Emperor acts as a high priest in UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} and was traditionally considered a [[GodEmperor demigod]] descended from the sun goddess [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amaterasu]]. Emperor Hirohito had to renounce the bit about being a living divinity after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (although he did sneakily ask the occupation authorities if he could make a sacrifice "to his ancestors", and they let him -- so he sacrificed to Amaterasu).